• Amazon has launched MLB.TV on Prime Video Channels, allowing Prime members to subscribe to MLB.TV and stream regular season out-of-market baseball games live and on-demand, all from the Prime Video service.

• WWE said it would move its global headquarters to a new office complex in Stamford, Conn, where WWE is now headquartered, to “allow the company to bring together its operations, including its production studios and corporate offices at its new site.” The move is expected to take place in early 2021.

• “Inspired by the intersection of past and future,” Foot Locker is launching the Discover Your Air Network, featuring “cable network-inspired programming for the ultimate sneakerhead” filled with Nike Air Max content, news and product. People will be able to view DYA Network content on Foot Locker's Instagram, Facebook, YouTube and Snapchat channels.

•NBA2K League has unveiled the match-ups and tournaments for the second season, with $1.2M prizes Begins 4-2.

• ESPN and UFC have extended their deal, naming ESPN+ as the exclusive distributor of UFC Pay-Per-View events in the U.S. through 2025, beginning with UFC 236: Holloway vs. Poirier 2 on April 13. UFC’s alliance with ESPN, which began in January, also has been extended through 2025

• MLB and the MLB Players’ Assn. have unveiled numerous changes to the game to be installed over the next two seasons that will impact game length, marketing broadcast partners, the All-Star Game and the Home Run Derby. Full story here.

December 19, 2018: Calling it the “latest example of the league’s commitment to advancing the game through data science and engineering,” the NFL has launched Big Data Bowl, a football analytics competition.

According to the league, the NFL Big Data Bowl would offer “college students and professionals the opportunity to utilize historical data sets of the same player tracking data used by teams and suggest innovations about how football is played and coached.”

The NFL said that it would review submissions and that eight finalists would have the opportunity to explain their data and findings in a five-minute presentation to a panel of NFL staff members, club personnel and industry-leading representatives during the 2019 Scouting Combine, being held Feb. 26-March 4 in Indianapolis.

The eight finalists in the Big Data Bowl would earn an all-expenses paid trip to Indianapolis to show their work on Feb. 27, at the JW Marriott in Indianapolis.

Two grand-prize winners would also receive four tickets to any regular-season game of their choice, as well as a $1,000 gift certificate to NFLShop.com.

“As the sports analytics community continues to expand and progress, we are excited to host an analytics competition focusing on creative and innovative ways to approach and use football data,” Damani Leech, the NFL’s svp-football strategy and business development, said via the league.

“The NFL and its clubs use of football analytics continues to grow and focusing the competition on college students and young professionals allows us to hear from the next generation of young minds that will help shape the industry in the years to come.”

The NFL said submissions using NFL-provided data should fall under three themes: “Understanding On-Field Speed,” “Proposing a Rule Change” and “Identifying the Best Receiver-Route Combinations.” (Details here.)

Historical sets of both traditional and player tracking stats are available to participants, who are “challenged to rethink player evaluation tools and innovate the way football is played and coached.”

According to the league, NFL player tracking, also known as Next Gen Stats, is the “capture of real-time location data, speed and acceleration for every player on every play on every inch of the field. Sensors throughout the stadium track tags placed on players' shoulder pads, charting individual movements within inches.”